First steps

[ The trial will soon commence. Prepare yourself, torchbearer. ]

[ Time remaining : 0 : 08 ]

Quill hadn't moved, his eyes transfixed as the numbers slipped by, one after the other. He was woefully unprepared for a situation like this, and considering the fact that his best weapon was his hand, he wasn't that optimistic.

'It can't be that bad, there's so many torchbearers in the world, how hard could it actually be?'

The number faded again, displaying a 5 now. Five seconds to prepare for an unwanted trial that might kill him, but Quill's main question was still focused on what he was supposed to do with a orange flower. As for the dice, he wasn't interested in even trying to glean its purpose.

[ time remaining : 0: 02 ]

Quill's eyes narrowed even further, as he tightened his fist. Flower in hand, wearing a suit, he could have passed for a flower boy at a wedding, rather than a challenger undergoing one of the most difficult trials on the Path of Purity.

Quill blinked, disorientated for a moment. What was he thinking about? What trials on the Path of Purity? What was up with him?

Before he could process, the counter reached 0.

There was loud noise, and suddenly, the rock wall in front of him was gone, replaced with the outside world.

His eyes widened, as he the outside scenery became visible.

---

[ Torchbearer, the torch is hidden somewhere in this course. Please light it. ]

[ Rules : Death will lead to termination of the trial and Physical body will be destroyed. 

Challenger have been provided with an auto translation module for all Runes. 

All entities are neutral, and will not attack unless provoked. Please do not provoke them.

 There is no time limit. You may look around, at your own risk. ]

'Entities...'

Quill's face darkened. Entities...They had to be related to the awakened.

Quill had quickly glanced over rest of the message inscribed at the foot of the cave's opening, but his attention was quickly diverted by the view outside.

The entire 'course' was a huge valley, with the bottom of the valley, a flat plain lying in front of the cave's opening. On each side were mountains that seemed to touch the clouds with their height. The valley plain itself was huge, Perhaps the largest area of open space he had seen, growing up in an overpopulated city.

However, the strangest part about the place was the drastic difference between two sides of the valley, divided by an invisible line. 

On one side, Dark clouds covered the sky, and heavy rain fell on the the dense forest that stood indifferently on the right.

On the other side, snow fell softly on misty plains where the fog obscured most of his sight.

Both sides were beautiful, but the harsh contrast between them made the scene rather...eerie.

There was soft music from somewhere, and the sounds provided by the two atmospheres created a rather nice background. The place could have made for a beautiful tourist destination if it was there in the real world.

Quill would have preferred to stay where he was,observing the scenic beauty and enjoying the tranquility of the place, but his desire to finish the trial and sleep overruled his other wishes.

'The torch is hidden somewhere. If I have to light the torch, I need to find fire. '

In theory it was good idea, until the realization kicked in that he didn't know how he was going to find fire in an area with constant snow and rain serving as the only weather condition.

'And there's that Pit of Will thingy...How is this trial even logical?!'

Quill sighed.

'I jinxed it, didn't I...'

He should have been sleeping, not doing an impossible hunt for fire in a strange place. Life was really strange sometimes.

'Hm...Which side do I start with..?'

---

"What...is up...with...this...wind!"

Quill's teeth were chattering. He had decided to start with the right side. For what reason, he wasn't sure. However, it seemed to be a bad idea so far. The rain obscured most of his vision,and he was drenched to the bone. The ground was muddy, and as Quill had soon found out, there were a number of lakes between the forests. While that wasn't a problem at first, he soon realized that these lakes were overflowing.

And that meant that every now and then, small waves would lick at his shoes. Which wasn't exactly a problem, but that did not mean that Quill liked it.

Also, he was dead sure there were eyes looking at him, but remembering the rule that creatures wouldn't attack unless provoked, He kept his fixed forward, avoiding the lake and the depths of the towering trees.

The wind was blowing directly in his face, further hindering his progress. Lightning flashed every now and then, illuminating the place for a moment before it returned to darkness.

He was utterly at a loss on how he was going to finish the trial. He needed to find three things, and so far, he had only found out that his flower was about as useless as he had expected it to be.

He was near yet another lake, and this time, against his better judgement, Quill kneeled down by the edge. There wasn't any reflection on the water's surface, and despite the heavy rain, the water was perfectly still.

If Quill was in a better mood, he would've ran away immediately. Right now, he didn't care. Picking up a nearby leaf, Quill let it sail on the water. 

'Huh..? Why did I do that...?

Before Quill could blink away the rain getting in his eyes, there was a soft splash, and the water rippled, and the next second the leaf was gone.

Quill tensed. There was something in the lake, which was to be expected, but did putting a leaf on its domain count as provoking it?

Quill didn't particularly want to found it, so following his survival instinct, he decided that going back to running. was a good idea.

'This place is beginning to feel like a God-forsaken horror movie, rather than a trial...'

Quill grumbled, his heart beating much faster than he would've liked it. But he kept moving. The rain seemed to have lessened a little, and the cold wind was no longer as strong as it was before. The conditions were a little more bearable now, but his vision was still low.

He had a fleeting thought to try and climb the trees to see better, but then, remembering that there was something there as well, he chose to stick with the ground.

In truth, it was rather exhausting. The ground was huge, and the cold had sapped a lot of his energy. What he wouldn't give for a good hot meal.

There was no end in sight. The area was a flat plain, with only a few bumps and ridges here and there. A fleeting glance towards his left reminded him of the snow covered plain that he hadn't explored yet.

Just as Quill was weighing his options, the rain started up again, coming down much faster this time. Quill's eye twitched.

Stifling a yawn, he started running towards the distant view of the snow covered plains, ignoring his body's exhaustion. 

He regretted not accepting his father's offers for some physical training; his body wasn't used to the huge extortion.

For a second, he had a feeling that he was missing something whenever he thought about his body's training, but he couldn't quite put his finger on it.

He wasn't sure how deep he had come into the forest, but now that he looked back, the cave was no longer in sight. 

Something about that realization sent chills down his spine, and he wanted to run faster. 

'This entire thing makes no sense...does this have something to do with my memories..?'

He was almost at the invisible line that separated the two zones.

A second later, Quill extended his foot forward, beyond the line...

and his eyes widened in surprise.